How will parenthood evolve in 2024? Yesterday, we told you about new dads in Senegal. This Sunday, we’re heading to Greece. In February, it was the first country with an Orthodox majority to legalize same-sex marriage. Supported by the conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the new law came into force nine years after the introduction of a civil union pact, the equivalent of the PACS in France. PMA is not authorized, but this evolution of family law can change the lives of same-sex parents who already have children. Even if, for them, it’s a new administrative battle that begins. Insights from Athens by Joël Bronner.
In Greecethe powerful Orthodox Church has asserted its “total opposition” to the same-sex marriagenothing has worked. Greek law now offers a broader definition of the family than the traditional view – a mother, a father, children – defended by the clergy. LGBTI+, rights and freedoms “, is the title of the legal book that lawyer Vasilis Sotiropoulos has just published: ” The big change that this Marriage Equality Act introduces is that everything that applied to traditional marriage now applies to same-sex couples. So, just as married heterosexual couples can adopt children together, that’s also how same-sex couples can, if they get married, go about being recognized as both parents of their children. »
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On the issue of same-sex marriage, the lawyer wants to believe that in the future, the Orthodox Church will soften its positions, as the Anglican Church or some German parishes have begun to do. In the meantime, it is at the town hall that it is happening: ” Personally, I had the great pleasure of being a witness at the first same-sex wedding that was celebrated at the Athens City Hall. Two of my very dear friends, a lawyer and a well-known writer, got married there, it was a very touching wedding. They have been together for 20 years. After having formalized their relationship once with a civil union, they were able to do the same formalization process again, but this time with marriage. »
Even before this first Athenian wedding, just fifteen days after the new law, Stavros Gavriliadis and his partner – together for twenty years – were the first homosexual couple to marry in Greece. The allergist has a seven-year-old child, his partner has four-year-old twins. They live under the same roof, but until now, Greek society considers them two different families: ” We rushed to get married first. Not for the marriage itself, but for the children. Our family life is centered around the children: what will the children eat? How will the children play? When will we be able to recognize our children? We end up neglecting ourselves. So, we said to ourselves, great, the marriage is set, let’s run, get married and officially become the two parents of the children. We have been waiting for this for years. »
Marriage was the part “ easy “, explains the doctor, who specifies that it was at the level of the adoption procedures for his partner’s children – and vice versa – that the problems began. Understaffed and untrained social services, homophobia… He compares the process to adopting a child from a social institution, when everyone already lives together. Another year or two to wait, he estimates: ” The wedding was just me, my partner and five other people. It was extremely quick and informal. Afterwards, we all went out to eat together. We didn’t have a party. We’ll have a party as soon as we’re recognised as the two parents of our three children. That’s what we’ve told all our friends: as soon as the children have both our surnames, as soon as the town hall gives us the proper papers proving that we’re one family, then we’ll have a huge party! »
A godsend for their 4-year-old granddaughter, who wanted to know, after the first ceremony in March, when her two dads were going to ” again ” to marry ?